Illuminate the universe and you'll see more beauty than you could ever imagine. <\/p>\n
That's exactly what a cosmic phenomenon, called a light echo, does. <\/p>\n
This Hubble image to the right was taken in February, 2004 and is a consequence of the revealing power of the light echo. <\/p>\n
This isn't just a pretty image, though. It's one of many that the Hubble has caught that actually teaches us something new about how our universe works. <\/p>\n
We think it's one of the most stunning scientific images we've seen from the telescope because astronomers had to wait nearly two years for it. <\/p>\n
That's because before 2002, the only thing we could see in this region was a supergiant star. <\/p>\n
But in January 2002, the star, located 20,000 light years from Earth, gave off a blindingly bright pulse of light. <\/p>\n
For the brief period of time the pulse lasted, the star was the most luminous star in our galaxy, shining at 600,000 times brighter than our sun. <\/p>\n
The star eventually faded, but the light it emitted continued to travel outward, illuminating the star's surrounding nebula, as shown in the animation below. <\/p>\n
Our Universe VisualizedAnimation of a light echo in action. <\/p>\n
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Originally posted here: Illuminate the universe and you'll see more beauty than you could ever imagine. That's exactly what a cosmic phenomenon, called a light echo, does. This Hubble image to the right was taken in February, 2004 and is a consequence of the revealing power of the light echo. Continue reading
\nAstronomers Caught This Amazing Stellar Pulse With The Hubble Telescope<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"